A jihadist serving life in prison on terror charges brought in the wake of 9/11 has claimed the Saudi Arabian royal family helped finance the plot.

Zacarias Moussaoui, 46, says an unnamed Saudi Prince paid for flying lessons for him and the 19 terrorists who hijacked planes in the September 11 attacks in the run-up to the atrocities.

The incredible claims were made in documents filed to a federal court in Oklahoma, in which Moussaoui says a prince ‘was assisting me in my Islamic terrorist activities… and was doing so knowingly for Osama bin Laden’.

He also said that bin Laden assistance from Saudi leaders in planning the attacks, and that he was involved in a plot to shoot down Air Force One with President Bill Clinton on board.

The Saudi government has flatly denied any involvement in 9/11. Moussaoui’s own credibility is also suspect – as even Osama bin Laden has denied he had anything to do with his terrorist plots.

Lawyers for the Federal government have taken him seriously enough to interview him over the claims at the maximum security Colorado prison where he is serving a life sentence without parole. They say he had ‘relevant’ material to contribute.

However, officials in Oklahoma have said Moussaoui’s requests to be allowed to speak in open court and to be assigned government lawyers will probably be denied, as his claims have nothing to do with any existing cases.

‘Even if he somehow got to the point where he could testify, there would be a credibility issue,’ said Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law. ‘Would his testimony be valuable? That’s doubtful.’